UNDP Bureau for Development Policy

Democratic Governance

 Thematic Trust Fund 

– Annual Report 2010

The Bureau for Development Policy (BDP) The Bureau for Development Policy (BDP) is responsible for articulating UNDP’s global development policy, using evidence gathered through country applications, regional experiences and global interactions. BDP has a key role to play in helping country offices to accelerate human development by supporting the country offices in the design and implementation of programmes and projects that effectively contribute to the national-level policies and results. BDP’s support of UNDP’s strategic plan 2008-2013 is focused in 4 practices and 2 thematic areas:

 Practices
 • Poverty Reduction and the MDGs,
 • Governance,
 • Environment and Energy,
 • HIV/AIDS

 Areas 
• Capacity Development and Gender Equality
• Women’s Empowerment

UNDP’s democratic governance (DG) practice focuses on fostering:
1. Inclusive participation,
2. Strengthening responsive governing institutions,
3. Promoting democratic principles.

The DG area is the largest area of investment for UNDP comprising 37% of the total budget for the Programme.
Financial resources are then allocated to the three focus areas as follows:
◗ 17% Inclusive Participation
◗ 74% Responsive Institutions
◗ 9% International Principles

1 - Inclusive participation expands equal opportunities or engagement by the poor, women, youth, indigenous people, and other marginalized groups who are excluded from power. Efforts in this area concentrate on the following initiatives:

 Civic Engagement
 Electoral Systems and Processes
 Parliaments
 E-governance and Access to Information via ICT’s

2 - Strengthening responsive governing institutions entails promoting the core channels of representation and accountability in the state at the national, regional and local levels. The establishment of Responsive institutions mean that the state reflects and serves needs, priorities, and interests of all people, including women, the poor, youth, and minorities. Initiatives in this area deal with:

 Governance and Public Administration
 Decentralization and Local Governance

3 - Supporting national partners to strengthen democratic practices grounded in human rights, anti-corruption and gender equality require UNDP leadership in promoting integration, coordination and information-sharing of policies, practices, and strategies strengthening democratic governance within and outside of the UN family. Initiatives in this area include projects on:

 Local governance for inclusive service delivery and MDG acceleration;
 Local governance for state and peace building;
 Local governance and democratic representation;
 Local governance and environmental sustainability.